Before this flight, the only other non-flag carrier I’ve taken outside of the Philippines was Jeju Air. I didn’t expect much from Batik Air when I was booking my flights within Indonesia, I just booked the most affordable ones that fits my schedule. I really wanted to fly Garuda but because it was twice as expensive, I opted not to.

Batik Air, by the way, is a new airline whose parent company is Lion Air. It first flew in May 2013. It’s a full-service airline though currently it only flies within Indonesia.